Ordinance Stops Bow Hunting In Town Parks

It will no longer be legal to discharge a bow and arrow in Payson's parks if the Town Council approves a proposed ordinance banning the practice.

The measure will receive a first reading and public hearing at 6 p.m. Thursday evening when the council convenes at Payson Town Hall. It was initiated after a goose was shot through the head with an arrow in Green Valley Park last month.

Richard Haddad/Roundup

This injured park goose was rescued by Game and Fish officers in
January.

"We did have a number of complaints about hunting in the park, which was not illegal, with bows and arrows," Town Manager Fred Carpenter said. "It is (illegal) right now because it's out of season anyway, but hopefully if they pass this ordinance it will be in effect long before the next hunting season."

Also on the agenda, Thursday evening is a public hearing on a request by Community Development Director Jerry Owen to amend the town code to change the side yard setbacks to allow attached housing on contiguous lots.

"In parts of older Payson there's a lot of small lots -- 50-foot-wide lots, and you can't build a house of any size on them because the setbacks don't permit it," Carpenter explained. "If somebody comes in and buys two of them you could put something over the lot line. It would ease the setbacks up for places like that."

Another code amendment on the agenda, this one proposed by Public Works Director Buzz Walker, would allow "true-ups" for multi-family subsidized housing projects operated by nonprofit organizations.

"After two years, we ‘true-up' a commercial water development fee," Carpenter said. "If it turns out your commercial establishment doesn't use that much, we give you a refund on your water development fee.

"But that only applies to commercial right now. We don't have a true-up provision for apartment complexes, but we have some subsidized apartment complexes where you're trying to get that cost down as low as possible."

The Payson Town Council will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday at Payson Town Hall.